To post my podcast I used Tumblr.
I tried Richardson's suggestions, but my podcast guests had other commitments so we went with the one that Tom uses all the time. If you listen to my podcast, and I hope you do, you'll hear some savvy young folks talk about the technology they use and some of the ways they see media evolving. At the very end of the piece they give a plug for their videogame website. Or check it out @ quiksave.net
Monday, February 25, 2008
Sunday, February 24, 2008
Podcast adventure
To prepare for my podcast adventure I did more reading (and highlighting) of Richardson's book-BLOGS, WIKIS, PODCASTS and Other Powerful Web Tools for Classrooms- my EDES 545 bible. Reading about how easy and versatile podcasting is, made me feel quite hopeful that I could DO this and maybe even enjoy the process. Of course my confidence was also boosted by the fact that my podcast subject was an interview with my three kids. My eldest son, Thomas, podcasts regularly, so I knew that expert technical assistance would be close at hand.
Back to Richardson for a moment. His description is "Podcasting is basically the creation and distribution of amateur radio, plain and simple....you do not need a lot of technical expertise to make it work." He lists the requirements needed to create a basic podcast:
The educational possibilities are very exciting. I can imagine students loving the medium enough to be excited about whatever content they are demonstrating mastery over. My own children, are involved in the performing arts so I can imagine podcasting concerts to share with out of town grandparents, doing a podcast-interview with performers in the musical theatre shows, jazz band concerts etc---though I suppose video would be another option.
I was keen on Richardson's suggestion that the school news/announcements could be podcast. He describes Lincoln (NE) Southwest High School podcast that offers " Feature reports by students on upcoming events, interviews, reviews and whatever else might be of interest" http://lsw.lps.org/dhersh/podcast.html
But there are many more educational possibilities for language, social studies, science classes that Richardson describes, and my brain is cooking with possibilities. The main thing I see as a Teacher Librarian, is now that I know how easy it can be, I will encourage, demonstrate, (and hand-hold if necessary) to help my colleagues use this amazing tool.
That's the great thing about this course as a piece of professional development. I am trying all kinds of technology that I would have avoided like the plague because I would have been afraid of looking stupid, of breaking something etc., all that fear based stuff. My big aha! as a TL is that by collaborating with teachers, especially in the use of technology, I can make using new technology less intimidating and less time-consuming to my already very busy colleagues. Even better, I don't have to be the expert, I can turn to my students for expertise with the technology. In truth, they are the self-trained media specialists.
Back to Richardson for a moment. His description is "Podcasting is basically the creation and distribution of amateur radio, plain and simple....you do not need a lot of technical expertise to make it work." He lists the requirements needed to create a basic podcast:
- a digital audio recorder to create and MP3 file (I used my Mac)
- space on a server to host the file ( I used Tumblr because that's what my son Tom uses)
- a blog ( got that a while ago!)
- something to say
The educational possibilities are very exciting. I can imagine students loving the medium enough to be excited about whatever content they are demonstrating mastery over. My own children, are involved in the performing arts so I can imagine podcasting concerts to share with out of town grandparents, doing a podcast-interview with performers in the musical theatre shows, jazz band concerts etc---though I suppose video would be another option.
I was keen on Richardson's suggestion that the school news/announcements could be podcast. He describes Lincoln (NE) Southwest High School podcast that offers " Feature reports by students on upcoming events, interviews, reviews and whatever else might be of interest" http://lsw.lps.org/dhersh/podcast.html
But there are many more educational possibilities for language, social studies, science classes that Richardson describes, and my brain is cooking with possibilities. The main thing I see as a Teacher Librarian, is now that I know how easy it can be, I will encourage, demonstrate, (and hand-hold if necessary) to help my colleagues use this amazing tool.
That's the great thing about this course as a piece of professional development. I am trying all kinds of technology that I would have avoided like the plague because I would have been afraid of looking stupid, of breaking something etc., all that fear based stuff. My big aha! as a TL is that by collaborating with teachers, especially in the use of technology, I can make using new technology less intimidating and less time-consuming to my already very busy colleagues. Even better, I don't have to be the expert, I can turn to my students for expertise with the technology. In truth, they are the self-trained media specialists.
Saturday, February 9, 2008
Too much
This past week has been all about too much. Too much at Stelly's Secondary library, too much illness and foreign vistors at home, too much yet unknown in this course. Not an auspicious beginning, but that's life. And of course, things are always connected in my world. So hang on gentle reader, let's see if I can make the connections clear to you.
At Stelly's this week marked the beginning of semester 2. In the library that means that all the textbooks we attempted to collect the week before (approximately 6000), had to be checked out to new users this week. It is a physically rigorous process that 3 people undertake. I spent the first 3 days in what I call 'the bookhole' --a small airless, windowless room stacked to the rafters with textbooks. The students file in pick up the books they need for this particular class, proceed to my circulation station, and then we (hopefully) checkout their barcoded texts. Sometimes a student has not yet returned his or her texts from the previous semester so they are not allowed to take out their new books. The intent of this delay is to encourage students to return their books so the next student can receive a text. (Students who haven't returned their books are often extremely creative storytellers).
The best part of this process is that I get to connect with every student in the school( around 1100). I get to know their names, something about the courses they are taking, and establish a new relationship or build onto a relationship that is already begun. I love this part! When there isn't a student standing in front of me, I schlepp textbooks onto shelves. This is physical work, but with all the adrenaline of this chaotic time pumping, it too, is kind of fun.
Everything else that I usually do doesn't happen for the entire week.
This work is not really 'teaching' work, but it is one of the things the Teacher Librarian does to remain visibly essential in the school. Textbooks are still a mainstay of the educational experience in high school---but that is changing. More and more classes have online components. Along with up to the minute information, online databases and other sources mean no textbooks for students to lose or damage---and to have to pay for. Educator and Web guru, Will Richardson, author of Blogs, Wikis, Podcasts and Other Powerful Web Tools for Classrooms writes about the California Open Source Textbook Project " COSTP is projected to augment the current K-12 textbook supply chain, be self-supporting within 18 months of starting up and save the State of California upwards of $200M+ per year for K-12 textbook allocation within five years".(COSTP 2005)Wow!
So while I was in the bookhole enjoying the irony of my situation, I was mulling over the things I've been learning about in this class---new technologies that offer students so much more than just a text. In particular I was thinking about FURL and del.icio.us, the social bookmarking sites we are to explore this week. How amazing it is for students to access 'the collaborative construction of knowledge' referred to by Will Richardson in Blogs, Wikis, Podcasts.
Like the regulation 'digital immigrant' that educational theorist Marc Prensky describes, I spent most of my time reading about ways to use del.icio.us, Furl, Jots.com etc. to help me manage my information overload. And the overload is very real. Perhaps because of the challenging life circumstances this past week I feel darn close to giving up. At this point, I try to reconnect with the kind of learner I want to become---an adventurer who is able to give this a whirl knowing that by continuing to play with this stuff I will figure it out, if not now, sometime soon. I don't want to be that digital immigrant who turns around and heads home. I want to model for my own kids that I can reclaim my playful attitude, live with being less than perfect,(far less), and carry on.
Actually, once I can incorporate the use of the social bookmarking technologies into my practice, I will have something even more valuable than the ability to manage information. These tools will give me the ability to connect with other learners who have similar interests, and to benefit from their explorations and discoveries. Del.icio.us in particular, will help me make connections with what like-minded souls are reading.
At this point I've watched the recommended youtube video by Leelefever (Social bookmarking in Plain English) 3 times and read the whole of Richardson's book, Blogs, Wikis, Podcasts putting my highlighter into overdrive. I understand the process, though I'm still very clumsy at using it. I like the idea of becoming adept at using the folksonomy. The traditional taxonomies don't even seem to work that well for the trained professionals, I've noticed. Folksonomies will have their weaknesses, but the more people who contribute to them the more accurate they will become, (a la wikipedia).
Richardson describes using both FURL and Del.icio.us. Both are web-based, so they can be accessed from any computer. They are another development in cloud computing. I first heard about cloud computing while listening to Spark, a CBC show hosted by Norah Young. She interviewed Nicholas Carr about his new book, The Big Switch, "which is about the massive changes this move to what's called 'cloud computing' may have. For Carr, its effects go beyond the business of technology. Just as electrification changed North American life profoundly, the 'big switch' will change economics, culture, and society, raising questions about security, privacy and more."
I'm betting that the transformation of learning that will happen when we focus on connections between ideas, passions, and learners as opposed to the more traditional learning where a student works in isolation, is mind-boggling.
Alas, today I feel like a learner in isolation, banging my head against the digital wall.
At Stelly's this week marked the beginning of semester 2. In the library that means that all the textbooks we attempted to collect the week before (approximately 6000), had to be checked out to new users this week. It is a physically rigorous process that 3 people undertake. I spent the first 3 days in what I call 'the bookhole' --a small airless, windowless room stacked to the rafters with textbooks. The students file in pick up the books they need for this particular class, proceed to my circulation station, and then we (hopefully) checkout their barcoded texts. Sometimes a student has not yet returned his or her texts from the previous semester so they are not allowed to take out their new books. The intent of this delay is to encourage students to return their books so the next student can receive a text. (Students who haven't returned their books are often extremely creative storytellers).
The best part of this process is that I get to connect with every student in the school( around 1100). I get to know their names, something about the courses they are taking, and establish a new relationship or build onto a relationship that is already begun. I love this part! When there isn't a student standing in front of me, I schlepp textbooks onto shelves. This is physical work, but with all the adrenaline of this chaotic time pumping, it too, is kind of fun.
Everything else that I usually do doesn't happen for the entire week.
This work is not really 'teaching' work, but it is one of the things the Teacher Librarian does to remain visibly essential in the school. Textbooks are still a mainstay of the educational experience in high school---but that is changing. More and more classes have online components. Along with up to the minute information, online databases and other sources mean no textbooks for students to lose or damage---and to have to pay for. Educator and Web guru, Will Richardson, author of Blogs, Wikis, Podcasts and Other Powerful Web Tools for Classrooms writes about the California Open Source Textbook Project " COSTP is projected to augment the current K-12 textbook supply chain, be self-supporting within 18 months of starting up and save the State of California upwards of $200M+ per year for K-12 textbook allocation within five years".(COSTP 2005)Wow!
So while I was in the bookhole enjoying the irony of my situation, I was mulling over the things I've been learning about in this class---new technologies that offer students so much more than just a text. In particular I was thinking about FURL and del.icio.us, the social bookmarking sites we are to explore this week. How amazing it is for students to access 'the collaborative construction of knowledge' referred to by Will Richardson in Blogs, Wikis, Podcasts.
Like the regulation 'digital immigrant' that educational theorist Marc Prensky describes, I spent most of my time reading about ways to use del.icio.us, Furl, Jots.com etc. to help me manage my information overload. And the overload is very real. Perhaps because of the challenging life circumstances this past week I feel darn close to giving up. At this point, I try to reconnect with the kind of learner I want to become---an adventurer who is able to give this a whirl knowing that by continuing to play with this stuff I will figure it out, if not now, sometime soon. I don't want to be that digital immigrant who turns around and heads home. I want to model for my own kids that I can reclaim my playful attitude, live with being less than perfect,(far less), and carry on.
Actually, once I can incorporate the use of the social bookmarking technologies into my practice, I will have something even more valuable than the ability to manage information. These tools will give me the ability to connect with other learners who have similar interests, and to benefit from their explorations and discoveries. Del.icio.us in particular, will help me make connections with what like-minded souls are reading.
At this point I've watched the recommended youtube video by Leelefever (Social bookmarking in Plain English) 3 times and read the whole of Richardson's book, Blogs, Wikis, Podcasts putting my highlighter into overdrive. I understand the process, though I'm still very clumsy at using it. I like the idea of becoming adept at using the folksonomy. The traditional taxonomies don't even seem to work that well for the trained professionals, I've noticed. Folksonomies will have their weaknesses, but the more people who contribute to them the more accurate they will become, (a la wikipedia).
Richardson describes using both FURL and Del.icio.us. Both are web-based, so they can be accessed from any computer. They are another development in cloud computing. I first heard about cloud computing while listening to Spark, a CBC show hosted by Norah Young. She interviewed Nicholas Carr about his new book, The Big Switch, "which is about the massive changes this move to what's called 'cloud computing' may have. For Carr, its effects go beyond the business of technology. Just as electrification changed North American life profoundly, the 'big switch' will change economics, culture, and society, raising questions about security, privacy and more."
I'm betting that the transformation of learning that will happen when we focus on connections between ideas, passions, and learners as opposed to the more traditional learning where a student works in isolation, is mind-boggling.
Alas, today I feel like a learner in isolation, banging my head against the digital wall.
Monday, February 4, 2008
A confession
Somehow as I was posting little bits of my tube adventures they got out of sequence, so diligent, sleuthy reading will be required. It is kind of mindboggling that I can play with time and sequence on this blog. I have the power, evidently, just not that much skill! Oh well, I know I learn the most when I make mistakes, so another big day of learning for Steph!
YouTube Adventure
As I explore the intersections of Youtube and Education, I begin by looking at the ways Youtube has been used by family members. First up is my middle child, Daniel.
Last June Dan graduated from high school. He and two friends spent their early post-school energy making money and planning a train trip across Canada, down the eastern seaboard of the US, as far south as Austin, Texas, then west to California, north along the west coast and home again to Victoria B.C. filming as they went.
Youtube entered the picture before they left home. Their pre-adventure trailer was created in the wilds of Central Saanich (i.e. the high school field) and gives the flavour of their mindset and intentions. What I loved about the whole process was that for this generation documenting their adventure was almost as important as having the adventure. One of the ways I see Youtube as an educational tool is as a vehicle of expression. An incredible amount of creativity is unleashed when you offer students the opportunity to create films. The sky is the limit. I'm thinking of high school here, but of course almost all ages could use the technology that keeps getting easier and easier to use. (Yes, I know, hard to believe it's Stephanie saying this). For the net-generation, using technology is second nature, not intimidating in the slightest.
So, even though I say :
YES, the creative expression opportunity Youtube offers is great
AND I think getting useful feedback is helpful
STILL I know that lots of Youtube stuff is awful, so for an educator's purposes Teachertube is a better place to spend time.
Another Youtube (guilty?) pleasure is the link to the Evolution of Dance. This is one of those comedy bits that is so clever and funny that it entertains both our kids and us. The fact that the very talented comedian/dance/inspirational speaker, Judson Laipply, looks so much like my brother-in-law is just a complete bonus.
Another perspective, offered by my oldest son, Thomas, is that a lot of the comments on Youtube are nasty, racist, sexist, etc. This may not be the place to post for the younger set, for all kinds of reasons.
Last June Dan graduated from high school. He and two friends spent their early post-school energy making money and planning a train trip across Canada, down the eastern seaboard of the US, as far south as Austin, Texas, then west to California, north along the west coast and home again to Victoria B.C. filming as they went.
Youtube entered the picture before they left home. Their pre-adventure trailer was created in the wilds of Central Saanich (i.e. the high school field) and gives the flavour of their mindset and intentions. What I loved about the whole process was that for this generation documenting their adventure was almost as important as having the adventure. One of the ways I see Youtube as an educational tool is as a vehicle of expression. An incredible amount of creativity is unleashed when you offer students the opportunity to create films. The sky is the limit. I'm thinking of high school here, but of course almost all ages could use the technology that keeps getting easier and easier to use. (Yes, I know, hard to believe it's Stephanie saying this). For the net-generation, using technology is second nature, not intimidating in the slightest.
So, even though I say :
YES, the creative expression opportunity Youtube offers is great
AND I think getting useful feedback is helpful
STILL I know that lots of Youtube stuff is awful, so for an educator's purposes Teachertube is a better place to spend time.
Another Youtube (guilty?) pleasure is the link to the Evolution of Dance. This is one of those comedy bits that is so clever and funny that it entertains both our kids and us. The fact that the very talented comedian/dance/inspirational speaker, Judson Laipply, looks so much like my brother-in-law is just a complete bonus.
Another perspective, offered by my oldest son, Thomas, is that a lot of the comments on Youtube are nasty, racist, sexist, etc. This may not be the place to post for the younger set, for all kinds of reasons.
TeacherTube and YouTube finale
Once again, I'm still playing when I need to be finished my posts on this topic. Today is textbook signout day at Stelly's as we begin semester 2. We'll be moving about 6000 texts into students' hands over the next two days. What I like about this crazy time is I have an opportunity to speak to pretty well every student in the school. Positive interactions now mean that students will ask me for help when they are searching for books, sites, learning support in general, and affirmation of one kind or another. As I sign out their textbooks I get the chance to talk to each student, to connect their names with their faces. As a non-enrolling teacher tis is my big chance to make connections. I love it!
I will work my YouTube explorations into the conversations I have with students. I like them to know that I value their opinions and experiences and that I am a busily engaged learner, too. I know I will be spending more time on the 'tubes', learning more tricks about navigating smoothly and creatively. So of course, this isn't really a finale, just an intermission!
I will work my YouTube explorations into the conversations I have with students. I like them to know that I value their opinions and experiences and that I am a busily engaged learner, too. I know I will be spending more time on the 'tubes', learning more tricks about navigating smoothly and creatively. So of course, this isn't really a finale, just an intermission!
TeacherTube trips
The videos that I checked out include a 10 minute video describing how Civilization III, a computer game, is used in history classes at Kimball Union Academy. Because I know from (parenting) experience how much kids learn and love role playing video games this really intrigued me. The concept of getting buy in from administration also interested me. Certainly we seem to spend a lot of time asking kids to stop playing games, at school--but again-- the theme of learning through play pops up. I like the learning details included, e.g. a discussion of the rubric used to evaluate time spent playing the game, and a final reflective project.
Recently a conversation between my husband, son Thomas, and I about the historical details and of 'Assassin's Creed'-- another role playing game this time based on the Crusades, got me thinking about the possibility of using games like this in the library and the Social Studies classes. It cheers me to know that these educational games are being created and incorporating so much historical accuracy.
The Teacher-Tube video is one that I would use for promoting the concept to administrators and parents.
Recently a conversation between my husband, son Thomas, and I about the historical details and of 'Assassin's Creed'-- another role playing game this time based on the Crusades, got me thinking about the possibility of using games like this in the library and the Social Studies classes. It cheers me to know that these educational games are being created and incorporating so much historical accuracy.
The Teacher-Tube video is one that I would use for promoting the concept to administrators and parents.
I include the tag and channel information for this one because I liked navigating around the TeacherTube site with some direction and assistance.
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